Memories of the Past
by Raieth Star
Summary: Seto tries to help a depressed Yugi 5 years after the ceremonial duel. Will bridge into GX eventually. Seto/Yugi, Atem/Yugi, Atem/Seth.
1. Family Day

Notes: This fic follows the manga storyline mostly, picking and choosing from the anime when i need to. It's technically not AU as it takes place between the first series and GX and we have next to no info on what happens during those 10 years. I assume that Yugi had a higher pitched voice during the events of the show, thanks to the abridged series that how i hear them in my head. Also, Atem was only called Yami in the dub anime, and was known mostly as 'my other self', so although he was A Yami, he was not named Yami. Yami=darkness and Hikari=light

This was actually supposed to be a hard bdsm pwp, but then a plot kuriboh bit me and wouldn't let go, so the kinky sex will have to wait till another chapter. and it will be very, very kinky, so this is written so it functions as a stand alone thing in case you don't want to read that kind of stuff. or in case I lose the inspiration... hopefully not, I really enjoy writing Seto/yugi banter ^.=.^

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><p>In a warmly painted room stood a very cold man. His ice blue eyes were a direct contrast to the warm reds and golds around him, they stared intently at an unopened bottle of very expensive 51 year old scotch cradled in his large hands. The bottle was ordinary and the label simple, an off-white bearing the name of the bottler, The Macallan, and the year 1948. There was a date under the year, todays date in-fact. He had purchased three bottles of this particular run, every bottle had a different date thanks to a clever marketing ploy. The other two dates he had purchased had been random, demand for the 366 bottles meant getting what you found. A lesser man would have been frowning in thought, but this was no ordinary man. The CEO of the largest entertainment company in Japan, if not the world, Seto Kaiba, was anything but ordinary. He closed his eyes in what might have looked like defeat before cracking the seal on the very expensive bottle of liquor. Today was a special day after all.<p>

Officially called 'Family Day', it was a mandatory holiday for the Kaiba Corporation. It was the only day that Seto Kaiba was unavailable for any reason, his one true day off a year. He had not even bothered to get dressed after waking up, although his sleeping clothes would make an Egyptologist drool, everyone else would wonder why he was wearing an almost shear skirt. Made of the finest hand woven Egyptian linen the white floor length Shendyt was wrapped counter-clockwise; a woven and braided cord belt, rich in beads of gold, turquoise and lapis lazuli, held the half pleated square of fabric about his narrow hips. His bare torso, white as parchment, bore the scars of a long and torturous childhood. Almost white gold bracers covered his forearms from wrist to elbow, the intricate detailing forming two halves of a mural telling an ancient tale. The bracers covered the most telling scars of all and as such were never removed unless absolutely necessary. His habit of wearing this style of clothing had started subconsciously as a teenager, memories of a past life haunting his dreams. It was years later that he realized wearing the clothing his past self was familiar with kept the dreams at bay. A small blessing that allowed him to make the most of the few hours he did use to sleep. Normally he would have already changed into his more usual attire, however, today was a special day.

He took a whisky glass off the shelf of the bar in his study, the glass had a small indent at the bottom, the exact same size as the disk of frozen soapstone he placed inside. He had quickly gained an appreciation for the straightforward device, his was hand carved with the relief of a Blue-eyes White Dragon. Finally he poured three fingers worth of scotch into the vessel, placing the bottle back within it's wooden case. The rich, golden amber liquid swirled and reflected the light as he picked up the glass. Only the far away look in his eyes and the line of his shoulders indicated that he was lost in his memories. After a moment he walked to the large window that dominated the far wall. His Shendyt rustled faintly in the silence, his bare feet silent on the wooden floor.

Domino City was like a bright jewel in the quickly lightning sky, soon the sun would rise and the world would go through the motions of another day. He brought the glass of liquid gold to his lips, closing his eyes as he inhaled deeply before finally sipping the strong scotch. He almost smiled, perhaps today would not be terrible after all.

Seto Kaiba watched the sky lighten and catch fire, but he wasn't really seeing it. He was watching the sun rise over sand dunes in his memory. Five years ago, to the day, the Pharaoh Atem lost the Ceremonial Battle, and was permitted into the afterlife. He had not realized how...attached, he had become to the spirit until he was gone. His memories provided him many reasons, he had once been the Pharaoh's High Priest. Atem was a sadist through and through, and as High Priest it was his job to insure that the earthbound God was happy. However, the Pharaoh was also capable of great tenderness as well, expressing his love through touch in all it's varied forms. Kaiba shivered at the memories, the first indication he had that the spirit remembered him at all had been right before he walked through the entrance to the afterlife. After saying goodbye to his friends, Atem had looked right at him, his deep violet eyes clouded with withheld tears. His expression had been hard to decipher, but when he saw Kaiba withholding tears of his own, the almost crimson eyes had widened and a look of regret crossed his features before the Pharaoh was forced to turn away. He had smiled at his reincarnation one last time before walking into the doorway and was gone forever.

The look of regret that graced the Pharaoh's face told volumes. It told him that not only did he remember their relationship, he had thought it was Kaiba that did not. He felt a familiar anger rise in his chest, the shadows around him seeming to deepen in response, it was his own stubborn pride that prevented him from admitting that he did remember his past life. If he had just said something he could have...no, Kaiba took a deep breath. He knew better than to beat himself up over the past. What was done, was done, and there was nothing that was going to change that now. A deep sigh echoed through the richly appointed study, and he finished the last of his scotch. His attention returned to the world outside the window and he realized that the sun was already above the horizon, he must have been standing there for more than an hour.

He was just contemplating pouring another glass when there was a sharp knock on the door. The look he shot it would have frozen it solid if that was how things worked, instead it opened and his manservant stood in the door way.

He bowed, "Forgive me Kaiba-sama, you have a guest." He remained bent over.

Seto turned back to the window, the clear blue sky that grew ever brighter seemed like a personal affront. "I don't care if world is on fire, I am to be left alone today." His tone hinted at barely controlled rage, this was his one day away from the world, he would not entertain guests.

"They are on the list, Kaiba-sama." His voice maintained the same neutral tone it always did, the man seemed to have endless patience.

Kaiba's eyebrow rose in curiosity, there were less than a handful of people on the list of people that could see him no matter the circumstances. Mokuba was studying in America so that left...

"Not even if the world is on fire?" Came a deep voice filled with amusement from behind him.

No, it could not be. Kaiba spun to face the speaker, a million half-formed ideas and questions swirling in his head. He was exactly as the billionaire remembered. The black spiked hair tipped in crimson, blonde bangs that also shot up to the tips of the largest spikes. Violet eyes narrowed in mocking amusement and his lips twisted into a smirk as he saw what the CEO was wearing. He still wore the same black leather collar he always had, his slender body clad in a plain black long-sleeved shirt and tight leather pants.

Kaiba tried to approach and retreat at the same time, and in the end stood frozen to the spot. He could not look away from the deep amethyst orbs across from him, something of his inner turmoil must have shown on his face as the eyes that haunted his dreams looked away. "I shouldn't have come, I'm sorry." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" He called out without thinking, taking a step forward.

The violet eyes looked back to him once more, eyebrow raised in a silent question. His voice had been unguarded, his emotions all released into that single word. Several emotions flitted briefly across the familiar face, before he stepped fully into the room, wearing a sad yet relieved smile.

Sensing that the guest was staying, the manservant stepped out of the room and closed the door. Leaving the two men to stare at one another. Seto frowned slightly, something was wrong with the man across from him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. The image of a smothered light crossed his mind, his own inner darkness seeing the lack his eyes could not.

"I'm sorry I haven't come to visit before now." His voice, although similar, was not quite as he remembered. It was almost hollow, like the speaker had lost his inner drive, his iron confidence, his soul.

Kaiba's eyes widened slightly as he realized that it was Atem's reincarnation that stood before him, not the pharaoh himself. He forced his troubled mind to settle and focused on the man in front of him rather than the one in his memories. "Did you have any trouble getting in?"

Yugi Mutou shook his head, eyes closing briefly. "How have you been?" His violet eyes paned down the almost naked billionaire a smirk tugging at his lips. "And what are you wearing? I thought you didn't buy into the whole 'past life' thing." He air-quoted.

Seto smirked in reply, shaking his head and walking towards his well appointed bar. "It's my only day off a year. If I want to spend it in my sleeping clothes I can." He opened the wooden cask and retrieved the bottle of very fine scotch he had opened earlier.

"Hah, I knew you would believe eventually." He casually paced towards Kaiba, the smirk on his face never seeming to reach his eyes, and where his tone should have been good natured, instead it came across as uncaring. His boots thumped softly on the wooden floor.

Seto glanced at the King of Games as he opened the bottle of very old scotch. He was trying so hard to maintain a good natured and optimistic veneer, but the cracks were showing. The tone of his voice, the set of his shoulders, even the way he walked spoke volumes. "Drink?" He gestured with the bottle. "1948 was a good year for scotch whisky."

Violet eyes widened in surprise, probably the first truly honest expression he had seen today. The leather clad man drifted closer automatically, his face twisting in concentration as he tried to figure out how old that was.

Seto pulled another glass from the shelf, "I'll take your silence as a yes." He switched out his, now warm, whisky stone for a frozen one and pulled out a second for his drinking partner. Once the drinks were poured and the bottle returned to it's home on the display shelf he finally turned back to the man standing silently behind him.

Yugi had a distant expression on his face, having not realized Seto was looking at him. He took his time to study the man he had not seen in person for almost five years. He looked like he had not slept in days, his eyes were sunken in and the dark circles were expertly concealed with cosmetics. The black Khol around his eyes distracting from the slightly off tone of the concealer. His lips were cracked and his cheek bones were far more pronounced than he remembered. Seto quickly realized that Yugi had lost weight, despite growing several inches. The top he wore covered him completely but was tight enough Seto could almost count his ribs. Suddenly, he felt guilty for not keeping in closer contact, it was obvious that Yugi was not taking proper care of himself.

"Here." He offered the glass and broke Yugi out of his thoughts.

The fake smile returned, the happy mask replaced. "Thanks." He looked into the bottom of the glass and saw the carved stone inside. "Is that the Dark Magician?" Violet eyes looked at him in confusion.

Kaiba nodded as he strolled past, leading Yugi to the black leather couch in the centre of the room. He sat on one side resting his elbow on the wide armrest.

Yugi sat hunched over on the opposite side, "Why?" He stared at the swirling liquor in his glass.

Kaiba looked out the window, taking a slow sip before responding. "You are the only person I trust enough to just sit and have a drink with." He relaxed his shoulders and rubbed his neck with a free hand, not sure how to broach the topic that hung between them like a cloud.

Kaiba could almost hear the happy mask cracking as Yugi's shoulders slumped and he hung his head, elbows braced on his leather clad knees. "Why would you say that?" He shook his head, "You never trusted me. It was..." His deep voice nearly cracked, unable to say the name of his other half.

The CEO gazed out the window, unable to look at him. "Why are you here?" He asked the question as gently as he could, not wanting to spook the man.

Yugi didn't respond at first. After a full minute, Kaiba shifted, pulling one leg underneath him in order to turn and face the man on the opposite side of the couch. Yugi was lost in thought, his violet eyes staring at nothing. With the mask gone he looked broken and weary, he looked defeated. It was something he thought he would never see. It was made worse by the fact that he was now the spitting image of the Pharaoh.

Seeing him so broken suddenly made Kaiba wonder why Yugi was wearing a long-sleeved shirt. He had never seen the King of Games wear something with long sleeves before and it made his guts twist with suspicion. He frowned, and placed his glass on the coffee table before he leaned over to grab Yugi's arm, ignoring the way his skin tingled at the contact.

The melancholy King of Games let out a short yelp, the physical contact surprising him out of his thoughts. "Wha-?" He tugged weakly, his body trembling. Although whether it was from fear, or something else was hard to tell. Trapping the violet eyes with his own he watched several emotions pass across the smaller man's face as he slowly slid the sleeve up over his elbow. In the end Yugi gave up, went limp against the back of the couch, and looked away, his face expressionless.

Seto looked down at the pale arm in his grasp. It was covered in thin horizontal cuts, each at a different stage of healing, all perfectly spaced from one another. Between the fresh lines were faded older lines, and even more faded ones between those, there must have been months worth of marks. He took a deep breath to steady his anger at the people who should have kept this from happening. Once he was in control he looked up at a face that looked utterly defeated.

"How long?" He barely managed to contain the darkness that seethed under his skin.

The violet eyes did not waver from their gaze far off to the corner. "You're not going to ask why I tried to kill myself?" The voice was flat, no curiosity, no emotion at all.

Kaiba gritted his teeth, "That's not what you were doing. How long have you been cutting yourself Yugi?"

"Two weeks." The quiet voice rang false in Seto's ears.

"The truth, Yugi." His voice could have cut ice. His grip tightened around the thin wrist in his hand, unaware that he was bruising the pale flesh with his fingers.

Violet eyes turned to focus on him at last, he looked confused. "Since two weeks after he left."

Years. He had been cutting himself for years. Kaiba's hands went numb and he released his grip. He had no words for how furious he was at the people Yugi called friends. How had they let this happen?

"Are you going to ask why?" Again that confused look. It was almost like he could not figure out what his angle was.

Kaiba shook his head and leaned back to the spot he had been sitting in before. "I know why." Or at least he had a good idea.

A flash of anger crossed the thin face. "You bastard. You haven't changed at all." He glared at the drink in his hand before taking a long swallow. His eyes watered, not used to the way it burned. Although that may have been what he was counting on judging by the look on his face.

"You, however, have changed." Kaiba couldn't keep the anger and disappointment out of his voice. "You're a mess, you probably haven't slept in days, and the fact you cover it up means the others probably haven't noticed." He pointed a finger accusingly, his anger getting the better of him, "You also haven't been eating, and haven't been for long enough to lose all your body fat. Your 'friends' probably haven't noticed that either." Yugi visibly winced at the way he said 'friends'. Seto rose to his feet to tower over the smaller man, "Have they noticed that you are retreating from the world?" Yugi cowered into the couch, not meeting the furious blue eyes above him. "Does anyone even realize that you cut yourself to feel something?" Kaiba panted, his anger so strong it was almost visible, like a dark shadow gathering and seething around him.

Violet eyes widened in shock, Yugi's mouth opened, then closed again. "How?" His voice was tiny, barely a whisper.

The timid voice was like a slap to the face, he stumbled back a step, the coffee table digging into his calves. It had been a long time since his anger had gotten control of him. He took a deep breath to steady himself, to push the darkness away. "You lost half your soul, Yugi. I won't say I understand what you are going through, but I do know that pain can be very grounding." He placed one hand on the bracers around his forearms. "Even comforting."

Yugi lowered his head, "No."

Seto was confused, "No, what?"

Thin arms wrapped around his own torso and Yugi's voice broke. "I didn't lose half my soul. You can't lose what you never had."

Seto blinked, "What?" He sat down abruptly onto the coffee table like a puppet with it's strings cut, his knees almost touching the leather clad ones in front of him. "You're a reincarnation, like me, what do you mean you don't have a soul?"

Spiked hair swung back and forth as he shook his head, "I'm an echo." He curled tighter around himself, his knees lifting up to press against his chest. "I was born so," He choked on the name. "So, he could have a vessel to inhabit." His forehead rested on his knees, hiding his face from view.

"But you were in high school when you solved the puzzle?" Seto felt something stir in his chest, seeing Yugi so sad and bitter was unnatural.

There was a bitter laugh. "Hah, can't miss what you've never had." He suddenly looked up at Kaiba, his head lifted only just enough. "Kind of like you and parents eh, Seto?" His face was twisted into a mocking grin.

Seto felt his anger spike, his confusion had not abated it. He found himself on his feet again, instinctively wanting to gain higher ground.

The twisted grin widened, and his head lifted farther. "You said you had no idea what it felt like." His voice dripped with sarcasm, "But you have a good idea of what it feels like to give yourself up to be used by another. Used and tossed aside when your usefulness is done." He sat up straight, seeming to gain strength from the anger rising in Seto's chest, from the darkness that surged around them. "To be beaten by someone stronger than you, and unable to do anything about it." Yugi rose to his feet to get in Seto's face, his taunting tone cutting and their bodies almost touching. "Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy when Gozubura-"

Seto snapped, "Don't say his name!" his fist pulled back to punch the smaller man. The world was tinted in swirling black and red, he was physically shaking he was so enraged. Adrenaline is a funny thing however, and as the world seemed to freeze around him, he saw Yugi close his eyes and lean forward, lips parted in an almost blissful expression. All the anger bottled inside him drained away, leaving him feeling cold inside.

Yugi's eyes opened after a second and he looked annoyed. "What, too chicken? Scared I might win?" His mocking tone faltered, and Kaiba heard the desperation it hid. "Gozubura wouldn't have hesitated." He used the name in a desperate attempt to get Seto angry again.

Seto reached forward and grabbed the smaller duelist in a crushing hug. Yugi struggled against him, fighting his own tears as much as the arms around him. Kaiba held him still, one hand on the back of his head, pressing the smaller man against his bare torso.

He rested his chin on the tri-coloured hair and whispered. "Oh Yugi, if you wanted me to hit you, all you had to do was ask." The body in his arms froze. There were a few ragged breaths before the trembling began. "Cutting isn't enough anymore, is it?" Yugi's arms fell to his sides and he went limp. Seto felt his chest grow wet as the tears finally started. "I'm sorry I let you drift away."

Yugi didn't reply, and Seto held him tight against his chest. He was so thin, Seto could feel every bone in his back through his shirt. He was growing self-conscious about this prolonged physical contact, but forced himself to continue to pet the soft spikes of hair as Yugi cried himself out. He unconsciously gathered the darkness around them, to shield them from the world outside.

The longer they stood there, the more Kaiba noticed. The smaller man was physically warm, and he could feel that warmth spread through his body from the other. He also found he could not ignore the way he smelled, it was both exotic and familiar, like saffron and warm desert sand in a half forgotten dream. His shallow breath tickled his bare chest, the sensation both annoying and arousing. Slowly Yugi's breathing came under control as his tears ran out. Somehow relaxing even further into Seto's arms, Yugi's thin arms snaked around his bare waist and the smaller man pressed himself flush against the half naked CEO.

Kaiba knew that Yugi could hear his heartbeat increase, as well as feel his growing erection. The sensation of having the other man in his arms affecting his body. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the increasingly uncomfortable Kaiba, Yugi stirred in his grasp, shifting his weight.

"Seto?" Was all he asked, his voice muffled and thick.

"Hmm?" He knew the rumble of his chest would drown out the exact words he used.

"I want to feel again." His fingers dug almost painfully into the CEO's back. "But I don't know if that will make it worse."

Kaiba's hand stopped it's petting and settled on his lower back. "What do you want me to do?" The question was soft, honest.

Yugi shifted in his grasp, pushing away just enough to look the taller man in the eyes. Crying had darkened the violet orbs to a deep crimson, the colour triggered a flood of memories of his past life. He almost missed Yugi's reply as the blood surged in his body. Too much sense memory was linked to eyes the colour of fresh blood.

"I don't want to be in control anymore." His cheeks, already blotchy from crying, grew even redder. "I want you to treat me as he did." He looked away for a moment, "I'm not sure how to explain." Seto felt Yugi's fingers tracing idle circles on his lower back. "He was, uh..." He faltered again, the blush intensifying.

Seto smiled, "He always was insatiable." A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest

Yugi's forehead dropped to his bare chest and even his ears turned red.

Kaiba's chuckle became a full laugh. It was a rare sound, a pure laugh born of honest amusement, rather than ridicule or victory. Yugi glared up at him, his bottom lip jutted out in a pout, his cheeks still bright crimson. It was an expression that only Yugi could pull off. Seto let his laugh trail off, "Still the innocent one." He put his hands on Yugi's shoulders and held him out at arms length, needing to be serious for another moment. "Are you sure about this? I will make you little more than my property."

The smaller man nodded.

"Do you want a quick way out just in case?"

There was a brief hesitation, "Not now, I don't think this will work if there is an option."

Seto smirked, "Very well, we'll deal with the paperwork later." He snaked his arms around the smaller man and crushed him to his chest, one hand knotted in the thick spikes of hair at the back of his head. He felt more than heard the hitch in Yugi's breathing right before claiming pink lips as his own. Yugi's lips were dry, and rough against his own. Seto felt raw need stir inside him, his memories of this life and the previous swirling in his head and his fingers dug into the thin body before him. He brushed his tongue hungrily against those dry lips and with a moan they parted.

It was warm and wet and tasted of spice and fruit and sunlight, it was intoxicating. Yugi's tongue met his but never pushed back, tasting but not fighting. Yugi was different from Atem, the Pharaoh had always tasted of wine and harsh moonlight and blood, demanding and aggressive. His fist tightened in the black and scarlet hair, and Yugi moaned into his mouth at the sudden pain, and his knees parted as they pressed against each other.

He wanted Yugi, he realized with a start, not because he was Atem's reincarnation, his mind had now firmly separated the two, but because he was Yugi. The duelist he had never been able to beat, his carefree smile, his iron will, his inner light. The shear need that had been stirring in his gut surged forward and his kiss grew rough, his teeth drawing blood. He felt himself groan at the taste, sweet and metallic, like hot, liquid gold.

The sharp pain seemed to trigger something in Yugi and he began biting back in ernest. Not to dominate, but to satisfy his own need. The shadows that had been gathered around them like a blanket shifted, and Seto realized that Yugi was somehow drawing the shadows to himself. Long fingered hands caressed his bare skin and left behind trails of fire, Yugi's hands were impossibly warm. Seto hadn't realized how cold he was until he felt the heat seeping into him from their contact, he felt like he had never before known warmth, never truly been warm. He needed more, his hands tugged at soft cotton, and slid against firm flesh. Yugi's skin was hot under his strong fingers, his skin was soft, but his body held no softness. Hard angles and firm flesh was all he held. He wasn't sure who's moans were who's, their chests carrying the vibrations between them.

He opened his eyes and pulled back from his devouring, his lips brushed against Yugi's, swollen and stained red with their blood. "Warm." He heard the need in his voice and didn't care.

Yugi's eyes flickered open, deep pools of crimson regarded him and Seto thought of sunlit rubies rather than blood. "Cold." His breath ghosted against his lips and he heard his own need echoed with wry amusement.

They stood frozen for a moment, lips almost touching, bodies pressed together and the shadows that followed Seto everywhere swarmed as if alive. Something flickered in ruby coloured eyes, a spark of something thought long gone. Seto was reminded of something Atem's spirit had said once. That the darkness needed a light to guide it, and that the light needed darkness to define it in return. He never understood that, the darkness was deep and comforting and had saved him from his insanity. But now, basking in Yugi's inner light, he understood at last. He would never be able to live without Yugi now, he would forever crave the warmth he held, and he would guard it viciously from any who would steal it from him. He gathered his emotions and poured all his feeling into one simple statement of ownership, both a promise and a plea.

"My Hikari."

Yugi inhaled sharply, his eyes wide, and that small spark flickered. Seto saw wonder, and longing, and a soul deep pain cross his face before he closed his eyes and let out the breath he was holding. Seto wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but everything stilled as the world waited with him. The face before him smoothed and Yugi drew in a breath through his nose, holding it briefly. His eyes opened and a warm smile spread across his thin face. The spark had become a small fire in the violet tinted eyes, a hint of what they once held. Seto's chest burned with the breath he held, unable to force his lungs to work.

"My Yami." He replied at last, there was pain in his voice, but also acceptance, and a quiet need. So much was said with so little.

Seto felt his knees go weak and his next breath spoke of the tension he had held. He realized he was smiling and a laugh bubbled out of his chest. "How did you do that?" He wondered aloud.

Yugi tilted his head, confused. "Do what?"

Seto shook his head in wonder, a weight he didn't even know he carried had been lifted from him by the warm light he was clutching possessively. "You came to me for help, and managed to heal a wound I didn't even know I had." His fingers dug into Yugi's hips and his shadows ached to caress the light, but didn't dare as the light could burn if it chose to.

Yugi smiled again and his eyes glanced around them, he leaned back enough to spread his arms and seemed to almost glow in the gloom around them, the sunlight from outside striking only him. The shadows caressed his limbs, greedily soaking up the offered light. Yugi shivered at the touch but did not move. Yugi's eyes held a quiet wisdom, as he let the all too real shadows near, he smiled sadly, "If you don't get your shadows under control you are going to summon the Shadow Realm."

Seto felt his mouth open in shock, "Y-you can see it? See...them?" He looked at the shadows, they had always looked like they held faces and hands to him. Shapes both familiar and strange.

Yugi nodded a surprised laugh fighting to be released. "Of course, my Yami." He paused as if listening to something, one hand absently caressing a shadow. "You have no idea what you have done do you?"

"What?" Then Seto felt it, just at the edge of his consciousness, amusement that was not his own. "How?"

Yugi chuckled, his voice unused to laugher, "Can you feel it?" He reached up and caressed Seto's cheek. "I can feel you." He closed his eyes, "My other self always wondered if it was possible. I guess it is." He seemed to be talking to himself, but Seto could feel something on the edge of his thoughts, an echo of sorts. Warm violet eyes regarded his once more, "I don't know how you did it, but..." He laughed, unable to help himself, "Thank you. I think, perhaps, things might be okay now." He shook his head still grinning, unable to express what he was feeling in words. He closed his eyes, "I feel..."

Seto felt it then, could feel what Yugi felt as if it was his own emotion, it was almost overpowering, it felt... "Alive." He said with wonder.

"I haven't felt alive since," he stopped and the pain that shot through their link made Seto gasp. He clutched Yugi tighter, such loss, it would break a weaker man. Had nearly broken Yugi. He claimed his light's lips with his own, needing to drive away that pain, that loss. His desire to protect his newfound warmth overwhelming.

Yugi moaned into him, the kiss short but intense. "Yami."

Seto rested his forehead against Yugi's, his neck beginning to stiffen from staring down for so long, "Hikari." He breathed a sigh, content to just hold the smaller man, to bask in his warmth. But he could feel hunger scratching at the edges of his mind. He straightened and felt his face grow stern and his concern grew as he realized it was not his hunger he was feeling. "When was the last time you ate?"

Yugi moaned and pressed against the taller man, his back arching. "Please...need." He breathed, unable to express what he was feeling with words.

Seto could feel it though, feel that Yugi had been craving such concern, needed someone to care. It was like there was a great void within him, a void only made bigger by the small light that exposed just how endless it was. He vowed he would do something about that, he would fill it even with the blackest shadows if that's what it took to rid his light of that empty feeling. He captured those perfect lips, his to claim, his to protect, his, only his.

Yugi trembled within his grasp, and cried out as Seto's desires washed over him. He panted, unable to catch his breath.

With great difficultly Seto throttled his emotions, realizing instinctively that it was too much too soon. He watched as Yugi came down from his emotional high, he couldn't remove his concern completely though, he knew then that he probably never would. "Yugi?" He asked gently, needing to know that he was alright.

"I'm okay." He replied after a moment. "It's going to take some getting used to." He inhaled with purpose before letting it out slowly. "But, I'm okay." He looked up into Seto's eyes and tilted his head with a question, "Why is today called family day anyway?"

Seto laughed despite himself, that question had been bothering Yugi for a while, but he had never had a chance to ask, Seto felt through their new bond, "Atem was Seth's cousin, I thought you knew that?"

Yugi blushed, "But we...they..." He trailed off his mind swirling with a barely remembered past.

Seto chuckled at Yugi's confusion before he cocked his head and gave Yugi a stern look. "Now, you need food and sleep, and I'm going to make sure you have both." He grabbed Yugi's wrist and dragged him towards the door.

Yugi laughed, his heavy boots thumping on the floor, and let himself be pulled. Seto pinned the smaller man to his side as he opened the door and stole one more kiss, before dragging the grinning man down the hallway. It seemed that today was a special day, a very special day indeed.

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><p>So there we go, please leave a review, I love reviews! I do have a plan to explain what the hell happened, so don't fret about that. Well here's hoping I can get the next chapter out sometime this year ^.=.^<p> 


	2. Of Soup and Souls

It took Seto less than 30 seconds to learn to love Yugi's laugh, as he dragged the smaller man through his mansion. It was a little too loud, a little too long and a little too crazy, very different from the laugh he remembered, but he loved it anyway, as Yugi's emotions unfolded in the back of his mind and his thoughts brushed whisper quiet against his own.

"How do you not get lost?" Yugi laughed, head whipping around to try and see everything at once.

Seto smirked, "I never get lost."

Yugi laughed again, high and wild and breathless, overwhelmed with everything. "Liar." He was panting with the short burst of exertion.

He looked over his shoulder, Yugi was red faced and grinning from ear to ear, his chest heaving with effort as he was pulled along. The shadows that trailed behind seemed a little more real, a little more solid then he had ever seen them before.

He had so many questions, and even more theories, his analytical mind never idle. But instead of asking he just listened to Yugi's breathless laughter, the stumbling thump of his heavy boots, the jangle of his belts, and the stunned confused wonder in his mind, curling like a living thing, warm and heavy.

Yugi's face scrunched up, "How do you keep track of your thoughts?" His head tilted, "You think too fast." He laughed again.

Seto stopped fighting the laughter bubbling up in his own chest, the sound strange even to his own ears, "You think too slow." He swept them into the mansions' kitchen. It was empty like he was expecting, and he made Yugi sit down at the small table set off to one side. The smaller man swallowed thickly and rubbed at his side, still watching everything with wide eyes.

Today was a holiday for the majority of his staff as well and his cooks usually made a big pot of soup for everyone that lived in the mansion. He checked the fridge for confirmation before digging bowls and spoons out of the cupboards.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you actually knew your way around the kitchen." Yugi was leaning on his hands, bright violet eyes watching his every move, breathless and glowing with light.

Seto snorted, "A clever ruse I assure you." He ladled the soup, chicken noodle he determined, and shoved the bowls into the small, rarely used microwave. "I, of course, never cook for myself." He waved a hand like the thought was beneath him, but his amusement coloured his voice as he filled a large glass with water for Yugi and set it in front of him.

"Liar." Was all he said before gratefully draining the water. Seto watched the buckle on his collar bob up and down as he swallowed. Thoughts wandering as he realized he had never seen Yugi without the band of studded leather around his neck. It wouldn't surprise him if there was a tan line there. The thought was strangely arousing, a strip of flesh that not even the sun saw.

Yugi jerked and coughed as he choked on his water, and shot the other man an incredulous look trying to cough the water out of his lungs and laugh at the same time.

Seto blinked, thoughts all sliding together in the now, "What?" That look had caught him off guard.

Yugi shook his head, "You think of the weirdest things." He tilted his head, just enough to get the buckle to catch the light. "But then, I already knew you were weird."

He shrugged nonchalantly even though the allusion to the fact that he wasn't _normal_ cut deeper than he thought it would. He shoved the cold sharp feeling away and thought very clearly about what he wanted to do to the skin under the black band of studded leather as a distraction.

_He traced his fingers around the metal studs on the warm leather, pressing just hard enough that the skin underneath would feel it. The buckle itself was nearly rusted shut, and he savagely jerked the metal to the side, pulling the leather chokingly tight, rougher and tighter than strictly necessary, before it gave with a squeal. Slowly and with infinite care he pulled the worn leather through the old buckle. The leather clung to the bare skin underneath, unwilling to give up it's hold as he slowly peeled the collar away. He breathed coolly on the now bare, sweat slicked flesh, relishing the goosebumps that prickled visibly as a shiver ran down the prominent spine mere millimetres from his lips. He waited, lips hovering over the bare neck before him, letting his breath ghost over the sensitive skin. Waited until needy moans filled the air, begging and pleading for contact. The pale skin tasted of leather and salt and musk, unique and familiar all at once. The only point of contact between them, tongue and teeth and pale flesh._

As one portion of his mind spun the fantasy, the rest watched as Yugi's eyes unfocused in a way that was immediately recognizable. Even the pale blush spreading across his cheeks was the same, any who had known Yugi during the events five years ago would recognize that expression. This connection was fascinating, but also troubling, to have his thoughts laid bare to another was in a way terrifying. To be completely exposed, to have nothing of his own, not even Gozaburo had taken that from him. His current thought experiment seemed to be working however. Yugi's thoughts were completely focused on the sexual scenario he was conjuring and that Seto could only 'read' his surface thoughts, that he couldn't probe deeper, was reassuring. However, Yugi did have far more practice at this type of connection and Seto would have to probe how to make sure that only the thoughts he wanted shown would be, or…well he wasn't sure what would happen.

"Beeeeeeeep."

In any case, it was a very entertaining way to spend two minutes. He let the fantasy trail off as he retrieved the hot bowls. He had time to set them down on the small table and sit back down before Yugi regained his sense of the here and now.

Violet eyes regarded the gently steaming bowl in confusion, seemingly at a loss for what to do.

"Eat." He ordered. Yugi was far too thin, and far too used to the gnawing ache of hunger. Treatment regimes for malnutrition flowed in an orderly fashion across his mind, an exercise regime to build muscles and strengthen bones, a clinical check-up to be sure that no permanent damage had been done. He also wanted to test Yugi's physical responses to stimulation, temperature, pressure, pain and sense deprivation. This mental bond they shared would need further testing and several lines of research unfolded. Seto glanced at the soup he was eating, he would have to talk to the cook about using so much salt as well.

His thoughts were interrupted by the caress of Yugi's amusement, warm and bubbling. His entire thought processes ground to a halt, like his brain had hit a wall, he blinked.

Yugi was idly stirring his soup, he had eaten very little of it, mouth curled in the beginnings of what could either be a smile or a smirk. "Are you always multi-tasking?"

He blinked again as he processed the question. "How much do you hear?"

Long fingers wiggled in the air between them, "Not much, you think too fast and across too many different lines." He shrugged, the smooth motion dismissive in nature. "It's just different than what I'm used to."

He smirked, the opening was just too delicious to pass up. "I'm sure having any thoughts in your head at all is different from what you are used to." The sarcasm was familiar ground, stable and sure.

Yugi laughed and slurped his soup. He had made the opening on purpose, as bait. Seto focused on the thoughts in the duelist in front of him, straining the connection he could almost _see _between them. Yugi thought along several lines, short idle thoughts with no purpose. There was far more emotion, hunger, lust, fear, wonder and an ever present amusement. Seto let them all wash against his mind in an attempt to get used to the sensation.

They sat in companionable silence for longer than Seto cared to keep track of. It was unusual, having someone sit with him like this. It reminded him of the way Mokuba used to sit with him, and he felt his chest constrict. His only family, always in danger and too far away to protect. No, no Mokuba was safe, was strong enough to stand on his own now.

Yugi's concern brushed against him like a tangible thing. Seto shook his head, "It's okay." He tucked the lonely feeling away, willing his heart to relax. "I talk to him every week, it's not like he's gone." Seto was well practiced at hiding his emotions and making his voice sound like what ever he wanted. The small understanding smile that Yugi flashed him twisted his thoughts around.

Pity was something Seto could not stand, it was offered by people that had no idea of what was really going on. Yugi did not pity him, Yugi sympathized with him, understood down to his very core, and that was somehow worse. Having a brother in another country was nothing compared to what his light had been through, his loneliness did not hold a candle to the deep void of loss that sat across from him.

Seto watched the deep violet eyes soften and look away to the nearly tangible shadows that crowded close around them. "Just because they didn't die, didn't mean I could keep them." His long fingers tangled in the almost fur of a smaller round shadow that hovered near. "I don't have any friends." There was an echo of a crooning noise and lips twitched in a ghost of a smile, "Well, no human ones anyway.

His trailing thoughts told the story that words did not say. Atem's power had granted one wish: Friends. In order to release the pharaoh the wish had been rescinded. They had drifted away, and Yugi had been left alone. Alone and hollow, the memories of life and love driving him to any sensation to fill the void. Tumbling, falling and empty.

Seto could taste salt on rough lips as he crushed them together. The table pressed painfully into his thighs, a sharp counterpoint to the soft fabric his long fingers were fisted in. He swallowed the helpless noise Yugi made. Never again, he would kill everyone in the world before his light, _his_ _hikari_, ever felt something like that again.

The table shifted, the squeal of wood on tile almost drowning out the strangled noise that squeezed out of Yugi's lungs. His fingers were almost frantic, dull nails digging, clawing at his torso. The smaller duelist was trying to climb inside of him. To curl up in his darkness and just sleep. _Gods_ he was so tired. Tired of the pain, tired of the loneliness, tired to his very core, and unable to really _sleep_ alone.

With effort, the normally composed CEO separated their thoughts out of the mess they had become. His light had not slept in days. His light needed sleep, restful sleep, _safe_ sleep. He slid around the table, never quite letting go, and swept his only concern into his arms. Yugi was almost weightless, dangerously underweight, all lean sinew and sharp bones and warm coiling heat. Hot breath ghosted against his neck and studded leather belts dug painfully into his skin as he let his long legs cover the distance to his sleeping chambers.

Yugi's fingers dug painfully into his chest and neck as the trembling man clung to him, his thoughts swirling with fear and exhaustion and _need_. A need that swirled in his thoughts and coiled deep in his belly, to be safe and cared for and wanted.

He ordered the shadows to open the door to his bedroom, and crossed the warmly painted room to his enormous bed. Yugi's fingers scraped uselessly down metal bracers as he resisted being separated from the darkness. Seto carefully pried surprisingly strong hands off of him and placed them on the soft mattress. Yugi whimpered, violet eyes wide in panic, _don't leave me alone, not alone again, not again, _he reached up fingers trembling.

Seto placed his hand on Yugi's chest and pushed him down. "You are not sleeping in your boots. Lie down, I'm not going anywhere."

The order soothed the blind panic and Seto moved farther down the bed to pull the heavy leather boots off. The sound of them hitting the floor was loud in the silence. Yugi's toes curled into the mattress, and his eyes drooped despite the tense line of his body. Seto debated briefly on removing his pants before deciding that the leather was fitted well enough that it wouldn't do any harm. Violet eyes opened to regard him once more when he undid the buckles on his belts, deep black amethysts glinting with something too weary to be labelled amusement.

Smirking the belts slithered to the floor and he crawled up the bed, gathering the heavy comforter with him. "Sleep, Hikari." He whispered against a slender shoulder as he gathered Yugi's back to his chest. They fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, or perhaps two sides of a coin was a better metaphor. Yugi's hair was thick and ran like silk through his fingers, he nuzzled the soft gravity defying spikes and listened as his breathing slowed and evened out. The warmth in his arms wasn't quite asleep however, he seemed to be fighting it, fingers clutched desperately to the arm wrapped around his waist.

"Shh, sleep Hikari of mine. I'm not going anywhere." He firmly kissed the back of Yugi's head, "Sleep."

The exhausted duelist wriggled a little, finding the perfect spot, before finally, fully relaxing. Sleep was slow to come however, it had been so long, it seemed the man had forgotten how. Seto kept stroking his hair and murmuring things with soft syllables and soothing any troubling thoughts, until finally Yugi drifted away. Seto sighed into the soft spikes of hair that smelled of baked desert sand and exotic spices, he was not tired but he was not about to move. His light needed this, and if he left now it could undo all the progress he had made in the long hours they had spent together.

He shifted to carry Yugi's weight across his chest rather than his arm, Yugi whimpered in his sleep but quieted as he snuggled closer. Seto sighed once again, how the hell was he going to keep this out of the presses? The last thing his light needed was media attention, he knew he could buy time by keeping Yugi out of sight, but the smaller man needed something to distract him, that meant work.

Well, he could always offer the position of personal assistant. It was inconvenient not having one after he fired the last one. Longest any of them lasted was eight months. He sighed, it would be nice having an assistant he could trust. Hmm, he would have to drag Yugi down to his office for the paperwork, that might be awkward. His secretary would tease him endlessly, his lips twitched in a smirk, that's what made her so good at her job, absolutely fearless she was. Getting him security clearance would probably test his patience, no telling how his heads of security or Yugi would react to seeing each other. He sighed and relaxed against the pillows, curling an arm around the warm body beside him, it would all work out. He would make it work.

Yugi shivered as a breeze blew over him, dusty and stale. Full of the smell of decay and abandonment.

"Tch, another one?"

Yugi perked his ears up, who was that? That wasn't Kaiba was it? He kept his eyes closed and listened to soft sounds he couldn't identify. He shifted, the bed he was on was too small for him, hard and uncomfortable, not the bed he fell asleep in.

"Your mind is a mess Hikari." Kaiba sounded annoyed and worried, yet the comment seemed to be directed to the air rather than himself. There was a soft scraping noise before Kaiba sighed heavily, "There, that should do it." A soft rustle of fabric and a thump. Yugi could smell the darkness rolling off Kaiba now, thick and cool, he must have sat next to the bed. "If I could just…" He trailed of into a sigh. There was a moment of silence before he heard a rhythmic sound that was suspiciously familiar.

Yugi let his eyes drift open, his Yami was indeed sitting next to the bed and was solving a Rubix Cube. He watched long fingers smoothly turn the segments, never hesitating, never pausing and always getting closer to his goal. He didn't solve it the same way the Yugi would have, he seemed more willing to sacrifice progress for compilation's sake. With no way to keep track of time he just watched as the puzzle cube twisted and rotated, the nearly silent sound filling the spaces between their breaths. Finally he twisted one more time and held the completed cube in his fingertips.

A long sigh filled the silence, "Has your soul room always been this small?" His Yami leaned onto his crossed knees, looking around, "And messy?" Yugi could hear the smirk in his voice. He let his eyes wander around the small room, it was much as he remembered it. Except there were patches of black so deep the light disappeared into them; as the walls were a part of him he immediately realized that the black shadows filled in the cracks of his heart, easing the constant pain somewhat. He let his eyes wander over to Seto's bare back, following the pale lines of old scars. Many were stretched and distorted, old scars nearly faded. The newest scars looked like bullet wounds, circular and raised. How many times had he been shot? How many times had he almost died?

He would be left alone again, his chest squeezed painfully at the thought and he dove for the scarred Yami. He couldn't stop trembling, as he buried his face in the other's neck.

Long cool arms snaked protectively around him, "Hey it's okay. Nightmare?"

He shook his head, unable to form words, struggling just to gain control of his breathing. Slowly he relaxed as the coolness of his Yami eased into him, dulling the burning heat that constantly boiled under his skin, a cool breeze on a hot summer day. The hand that rubbed his back was jerky and unsure, and somehow even more calming in it's awkwardness. It was obvious now that the powerful man was running on pure instinct, his childhood so devoid of compassion that he was now floundering with very little experience to guide him. Yugi felt a small flicker of mischief overwhelm him and his mouth opened before he could stop.

"What are you doing in my head Kaiba?" Thankfully his tone was more teasing than sarcastic, but Yugi felt the other man stiffen.

Silence flooded the room, heavy and thick, his chest constricted. Why was he so stupid? Was he trying to push his only hope away? Make him leave like all the others?

Kaiba wet his lips, a smirk in his tone. "Just trying to patch the holes, Mutou." He chuckled, low and quiet. "The holes in your tiny little mind."

A flush of embarrassment snapped his head up, and he glared hotly into surprisingly warm sapphire eyes. "Oh like yours is any bigger."

Something deep and knowing crossed Seto's eyes, and his mouth twitched, trying not to smile. "Would you like me to show you?"

Yugi sensed the nervousness, the magnitude, of that question burrow into his skin. "Show me?" Was it possible? But if Kaiba was here in the small room filled with scattered games, then it must be. He wavered, to grow so close to another soul. To risk having it torn away again. He couldn't quite stop the shudder that wracked his thin frame.

Seto's lips on his were cool and soft against his own. Dark and sweet and more than a little greedy. "Please?" His whisper was full of need and fear. "Let me show you."

Yugi let the shudders pass through him, let the fear run it's course. It was hard, so hard, and yet so _easy_ to just smile and say, "Yes."

Seeing his Yami's face light up in surprised joy was almost worth the fear coiling low in his belly. His head rocked back as Seto pulled him to his feet, he shivered when the door was opened, the blackness outside was familiar and terrifying all at once. The absence of the ancient stone wall cut him deep, his guts twisted with a far too familiar agony. The void of his soul called to him, promising sweet oblivion, all he had to do was let go. He tried to follow the siren song, and frowned when something held him back, trapped his wrist and pulled him away.

"No, let go." He tried to twist away, "It's calling me." The void was just beyond his outstretched fingers, the end of his pain, the end of everything.

Strong arms wrapped around his torso and he was pulled back against a cool body. Concern and love washed over him, and the tightness in his chest eased with a gasp. "It's calling." His knees gave out and he fell into cool arms. Darkness so thick it was tangible formed a corridor around them, silencing the void.

"Shh, it's okay." Long fingers brushed through his spikes. He was pulled to his feet, "Come on, it's not far."

Yugi swivelled his head towards a gilded gate he hadn't noticed before, or had it not been there before? Feeling numb he trailed behind his Yami. The gate looked like it was put together from pieces of two different worlds, glass and chrome joined to stone and gold with mortar so black it sucked the light into itself.

Seto's hand hesitated, hovering just over the disjointed surface. Sapphire eyes glanced down, something vulnerable passing across them before his lips firmed in determination. He pushed open the door and Yugi was blinded by a bright flash of darkness.

"Welcome to my soul."

Yugi blinked the spots out of his eyes, and gasped, his jaw dropping open. They were standing on a sand dune over looking a city bathed in moonlight. The city was a strange blend of modern and ancient, huge joining seams of darkness holding the wildly different segments together. It was strangely beautiful, a mosaic of glass and sandstone, chrome and gold, the dark seams running like marble as far as the eye could see. Even the dome of stars above was pieced together the same way, black on black playing tricks on the eye.

He sank to the soft sand in shock, unable to stop starring at the soft lights of the fragmented city. Shifting fire next to blue halogen, sparkling under a full moon, the sounds of desert life masking the silence in a gentle blanket.

Seto sat next to him. "I'm still repairing it." He breathed quietly, "I may never be done."

Yugi swallowed, his tongue thick, "It's beautiful." He turned to look at his Yami, "Can we go closer?"

Seto smiled, "Sure." He rose and offered a hand up.

Laughing Yugi let himself be pulled to his feet. Together they half-ran, half-tumbled down the sand dune. He felt a sense of wonder fill him, it was something he hadn't felt in years. Everywhere he looked he saw bits of two different worlds, somehow forming a whole.

"Modern and ancient…Domino and Kismet?" He looked to Seto for confirmation.

A nod. "Gozaburo's taint ran too deep." His attention was focused on some point far in the distance.

"What?" Vague memories of Seto in a coma rose to the surface.

Seto's smirk was self-depreciating, "I was insane Yugi. Atem…" He shook his head, sapphire eyes looking up to the tops of the skyscrapers. "There wasn't much left."

Memories flooded Yugi's senses. Seto had been the only person to survive two penalty games relatively unscathed. Yugi's hand rose on it's own, he closed his fist, "Mind crush."

Seto visibly flinched at the whispered words. "Yeah, that's the one. Honestly, I think he was trying to kill me in his own twisted loving sort of way." He started walking, needing to burn off the anxiety building in his chest.

Stumbling to catch up Yugi stared at the disjointed, yet whole, city. "But that doesn't explain why your soul looks like this."

A dark eyebrow arched, "Doesn't it?" He snorted and smirked, "I lost more than half of myself that day. I needed to fill in the gaps so I, _improvised_." He gestured grandly around them, "What you see is the merging of two broken souls." His voice dropped, "Seth's soul did not weather reincarnation very well. Even then that wasn't enough, if Mokuba, Kisara and-" He hesitated. "If they hadn't given me a piece of their souls…" He shrugged.

"Wait, so you mean you knew you were a reincarnation the whole time?"

Seto suppressed his smirk, "Once I woke up, yeah I did." He stopped walking once they reached a plaza, the strange towering buildings forming a circle around a metal statue of a Blue-eyes White Dragon.

Yugi stared up at the massive statue, the shifting lights flowing and flickering over the smooth metal giving it the illusion of life. "It's beautiful."

"Yes she is."

Yugi looked over at Seto's wistful tone. His face was completely unguarded and his expression was a cross between worship and regret. He came back to himself with a shake, and turned to look at the smaller duellist. "So, Mutou…" He trailed off, his mouth dropping open in shock.

Yugi looked down at himself, "What? What is it?" Seto didn't respond still staring mutely. Following the sapphire gaze he looked back the way they had come. He felt his own mouth drop open. Tiny delicate plants were growing in the cracks of the pavement. A long line all the way back to the sand dune they had started on.

As they stared the tiny buds opened, a cascade of pale pinks and delicate blues flowing all the way to his feet. Curious he lifted his foot, immediately a new shoot sprung up. He felt panic overwhelm him, messing with someone's soul room was never a good thing.

"Yugi…" Seto's voice held a note of wonder.

Panicking he stumbled back a few steps, the delicate flowers outlining every step. "Kaiba, I'm sorry, I- I didn't-"

Seto pulled him into a fierce embrace, his whispered words lost in red and black spikes. "Kaiba?" He didn't dare move, although his Yami didn't seem angry he wasn't sure what the other was thinking, their connection wasn't that good yet.

After a few heart-stopping moments of just being held Yugi felt himself relax. It was hard to stay on his guard when surrounded by Kaiba's subtle scent, like a cold, clear autumn day with a hint of woodsmoke. He felt more than heard the sigh against his trapped body and large hands firmly stroked down his sides, seeming to feel every rib, before resting firmly on his narrow hips.

Released from the tight hold Yugi leaned back to look up into deep oceans of the clearest blue he had ever seen. Almost warm in their intensity, reflecting the small smile that softened a face far more used to glaring. His lips may have been thin but they were soft and smooth, and surprisingly expressive. The gentle curl at the corners conveying just as much emotion as a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

Those expressive lips stretched and moved, just revealing straight white teeth before becoming still once more. Then they twisted into a very familiar smirk.

"-ugi."

He blinked. "What?"

Seto chuckled, the deep sound vibrating both their chests. "You didn't hear that at all did you?"

"Umm…no?" His face grew warm with embarrassment.

The taller man sighed, "What am I going to do with you?" He lifted his hands to cup gaunt cheeks, forcing Yugi to pay attention. "Thank you, Yugi. I don't know how you did it but thank you. Nothing has grown here no matter what I tried. Thank you my hikari."

Yugi's blush intensified. "Uh, you're welcome?" It was turning out to be difficult to concentrate this close to Seto's mouth.

Seto chuckled, having noticed where Yugi's attention was. "Demanding aren't you my light?"

Those cool lips claimed his own with a fierce intensity, sucking the breath from his lungs. All too quickly those wonderful lips pulled away. "Of course." An unfamiliar chuckle floated between them, "It's so simple."

Yugi tilted his head to the side, pulling his eyes off the soft curve of dusky lips to stare into deep sapphires. "What is?"

"Plants don't grow in the dark." Without warning Seto tightened his hold and spun the smaller duellist around, his chuckle becoming a laugh. "What have you done to me?" Yugi found he couldn't support his own weight when given the opportunity again. "You do realize you are never going to be rid of me now, right?"

Unable to form words around the sudden upwelling of painful emotion in his chest Yugi could do nothing but nod numbly. Forever, a broken promise he had heard before, but the promise was as sweet as always. He let himself be swept up and held close as they watched the tiny flowers spread through the previously lifeless fractured cityscape. Maybe…maybe this time it really would be.


	3. Pillow Talk

Update Note: (Oct 12/12) Chapters 1 & 2 have received minor updates. Mostly spelling, grammar and a really minor plot point rewording. Nothing major.

This chapter contains a version of Gozaburo's death that is blended from both the anime and the manga and is therefore technically AU for both.

I apologize in advance for the hard to follow perspective shifting in the beginning. This is intentional, and will level out into mostly Seto pov by the end of the chapter.

Note: * 45 Kilograms is roughly equivalent to 100 pounds.

* * *

><p>Seto woke all at once as he usually did. The world crashed into his senses, hunger and the need to pee overshadowed by the shear warmth of the body draped over his chest. It was like holding a fire in his arms, all consuming and dangerous. He looked down into the thick black, red and gold hair spread like sin over his white chest. For a heart stopping moment he thought he was holding the Pharaoh, before the events of the day before, and the sleepy murmur in the back of his mind caught up with him. He relaxed back onto the pillows and looked over to his clock. Five in the morning, too early to phone his secretary and let her know he wasn't going to be in.<p>

Not that being out of the office would change his workload at all today, he never scheduled office appointments the day after Family Day after all. But, he would let his secretary know, so she could plan her day accordingly. It was only polite, and he had learned long ago that happy employees are productive employees, that and she would chew him out if he didn't.

Besides, his digital inbox was likely to be a war zone after an entire of day of neglect, like every year previous. If he started now he could probably have it mostly dealt with before Yugi woke, then he could focus on getting him settled in.

Seto stared up at his ceiling, pointedly not moving, listening to Yugi breathe. He couldn't move he realized with shock. Yugi likely didn't even weigh 45 kilos* in soaking wet leather and his pointy bones were digging in and Seto couldn't move him off to the side.

It was a strange feeling, knowing he had work to do and doing nothing instead. A tight chested panicky feeling, like his step-father was about to charge in and 'correct the problem'.

Yugi stirred against his side, fingers clenching into fists with a pained moan.

Seto rubbed a hand across Yugi's shoulders. Would every one of his emotions be transferred through their link? He quashed the earlier feeling of panic, the only thing that would happen if he didn't do his work, was that it wouldn't get done.

A trembling ran down Yugi's thin frame. The sleepy murmur turned dark, fear, and panic swept through the link.

"Shit." Seto swore quietly, his momentary lapse in control had triggered a nightmare in his light, and not just any nightmare, one of his own. He shifted to hold the dreaming man tight to his chest, stroking the wild hair the way he had vague memories of a kind nanny doing once when he was a child. She hadn't lasted long, he never did find out what had happened to her.

"It's not real Yugi." Seto whispered into Yugi's ear. "Gozaburo can't hurt anyone anymore. He's dead."

Terror, panic, doubt, Gozaburo was a huge, intimidating man, more so to a small desperate child, whose plan for a better life had backfired spectacularly. Larger than life and immortal like a god, Mokuba's life always held in the balance.

Seto dug his fingers into Yugi, clutching him almost violently, he knew exactly which nightmare Yugi was trapped in. He also knew the way out; rolling over the smaller man to use his own body as a shield, pressing his forehead against blonde bangs, Seto led his light through the darkness of his past.

"We were in the board room, the results of the task he set me, plain on the long table." 49% shares of Kaiba Corporation through his own efforts, every former share holder guiltily avoiding looking at the man sitting in front of the wall of windows, face cast in deep shadow. The sunlight had been streaming through the windows in patches, the overcast grey sky a fitting view for the young teen who was about to get revenge for all the wrongs committed against him and his. Gozaburo had quickly bypassed angry and gone straight to cold, enraged fury. Over confident in his own power and blind to the danger, he called in Mokuba. Still believing the eleven year old to be on his side, and willing to give Gozaburo the two percent he needed to ensure control.

The grins that flashed across the faces of the two men pressed forehead to forehead, body to body, would make even trained killers cower, lost in the dream-memory, minds so tangled they were like one broken whole.

"He made two very fatal mistakes that day." The first had been trusting Mokuba. Never a child, never an innocent. Just as devious and cunning and ruthless as the brother he protected. The second had been picking up the phone.

"Delayed, contact neurotoxin that leaves no trace is extremely expensive." And worth every blood soaked penny. The reaction delayed just long enough for Mokuba to announce his brother the recipient of his shares and thus majority share holder and owner of KaibaCorp.

"He turned the most beautiful shade of blue as the toxin slowly froze his lungs." A cry of false panic from a predator in children's clothes and a young teen's artfully fearful dash across the board room, cries of 'heart-attack' and 'paramedics' on his lips.

Leather and linen and skin rubbed together, bodies aching for contact, the memory of his sweetest victory always made his blood pound and his endorphins flow, touching on that very human need to prove he was _alive_. Tongues met and danced as long fingers traced paths of fire and ice across pale skin.

Dying hands tried to retrieve a gun, Gozaburo not willing to go down without a fight; but was hindered by falsely panicking, barely preteen, hands that took the weapon and slid a suicide letter into it's place.

The letter had been a work of forensic art in itself, the perfect balance of pathetic and bile.

'_There is nothing left for me now that the child I took into my home has betrayed me and tried to take my company. I give everything to that motherless bastard in the hopes that the pressure breaks him, like taking my company has broken me. _

_I declare Seto Kaiba my sole inheritor and heir to my legacy. May it destroy him._'

Herded by two determined brothers, the dying man choked out one last sentence as he stumbled backwards.

"It's not a victory unless the loser dies."

Still so sure that his power would force them to stop, that they were still innocent children, that someone would save him. If there was one thing Gozaburo should not have forgotten, it was that if Seto couldn't win, he cheated.

The look on the dying man's face when his body touched the window and the whole sabotaged frame shifted slightly out of place was one of the brothers's most treasured memories. The instant that Gozaburo realized that he had trained them far better than he realized. That they were playing for keeps. That he was about to die.

Lungs almost shut down and body going numb from the toxin and still the old man had fought to keep his footing, to survive.

All he had needed was a little push.

A kaleidoscope of emotions surged through their shared mind. Bodies twisting around each other, trying to share the same skin, fingers clenched and teeth drawing blood.

Yugi's eyes flew open, deep pools of blackened amethyst blood in the dim light, "Checkmate."

Overwhelmed with emotion Seto claimed Yugi's mouth once more, reaching into opened leather pants to grab hardened flesh. The last words Gozaburo Kaiba ever heard on his light's lips was almost too much, the taste of remembered victory driving him to the edge. His Hikari's skin hot and silky smooth, arching into his touch with a low moan.

The sound sent a shiver down his spine, echoes of a past life urging him to worship the living God in his grasp. To prostrate himself, crawl on his belly and show his undying devotion, his love in the blood running down his skin.

But Seto Kaiba was not High Priest Seth, and the echo was faint, twisted around by a cruel life of forced submission into a far different desire. To see his Hikari writhing at his touch, to taste sweat soaked skin, to give him the pain filled love they both craved, that they both needed.

But there was something shadowed in the deep violet-red eyes under him, a twisting tangled fear of familiarity; memory and need and desire, warped and stained by the void forever lurking behind vibrant eyes.

Their minds still tangled into knots, Seto realized that Yugi was physically far worse than he initially believed. Thin, frail body in the first stages of consuming itself to survive. Yugi was dying in his arms even as he arched up, body growing impossible hot, before spilling over the edge with a great shuddering gasp; the shared sensations bringing Seto right along with him, mind and body overwhelmed.

Breathless, he managed to not fall on the smaller duelist, instead landing just beside him. Not entirely sure where he ended and his other began, and not sure he cared enough to find out, he curled around the warmth, ignoring the sticky mess between them.

Yugi's laugh sounded more like a madman's giggle, "I never would have guessed you were a snuggler Seto." Quickly buried horror of a past revealed, terrified satisfaction of a life taken, guilty shuffling of a body abused and a creeping exhaustion that cried out for more rest.

Seto burrowed closer, trapping the other man within his limbs, wanting to shut the world and the past out. "Warm." Was all he replied, unknowingly sending thoughts of darkly tarnished silver scales curled in a sunbeam, content, satisfied, fiercely protective and territorial of things that were _his._

"You're such a dragon Kaiba." Rolled eyes and teasing affection, wispy feelings of embarrassment drifting by as the sensations of sweaty skin and drying seamen registered. All distracting from a growing gnawing of worry and painful truths.

Yugi was far too experienced at turning away from things he'd rather not think about. "Ask Yugi." No lies between them, no hidden paths, every dark corner of his soul willing laid bare for the embodiment of Ra in his arms. Anything to keep that light close and _his_, the need deeper than rational, bordering on blind obsession.

A great shudder ran through Yugi's thin frame, his fingers tracing familiar hieroglyphs engraved on the white gold bracers encircling him. "Was he the first or the last?" No need to elaborate on _who_ or _what_ given the shared dream.

"Neither." Impressions of hidden strength with no bark, only bite when pushed. Territorial to a fault and a clean conscience.

"Mokuba helped." Less a question and more a world view sliding sideways. A fundamental truth shattered on the rocks below and reality re-orienting itself around the pieces.

Coiling sibling/parental pride, the lines between brother and son long since blurred into something unnameable within his mind. "Mokuba is the very best at what he does." A sharp smirk, "I believe the technical term is ninja." The ability to hide in plain sight, normal and unassuming. Trusting, innocent, vulnerable. The snake in the grass, the wolf among the sheep, never suspected, never questioned, and all the more dangerous for it.

"Was he ever my friend?" Crushing loss and a faint hope.

"Yes, you were probably the only friends he really had." Slinking guilt, and the knowledge that it didn't start that way. "He still asks about you."

An embarrassed flush swept through their link, "What are we going to tell him?"

"That you are mine." Seto hummed low in his throat, "What else do we have to say?"

"But…" Hot embarrassment swept away by cold amusement.

"He will understand." A raised eyebrow, "Unless you don't think that you are mine?"

Warm hands immediately reached out to soothe cool skin, "No, no that's not what I meant." Owned meant protected, cherished, wanted, _loved. "_But he's your brother."

Seto let the sensation of _being wanted_ sink into his skin, "And that is why he will understand." He tightened his hold, semi-aware of flooding the link with '_mineminemineminemine'_ "There are only two kinds of things in this world Yugi Mutou." '_Protectguardloveneedwantmine _' "Mine and not mine. You, are _mine._"

Yugi trembled, cocooned in Seto's darkness and flooded with his brand of protective, possessive love. For the first time in five years the void relaxed it grip on him, and the thought that perhaps everything would be alright didn't seem so ephemeral.

The itch of unfinished work intruded on the moment, and Seto sighed.

Yugi closed his eyes and examined the feeling. "It's a real problem isn't it?" He frowned, "I don't think I can fix something so deeply ingrained. I'm sorry."

Seto shrugged, "It's what makes me such a good CEO." There were lingering feelings of regret about the way that turned out, "Would you like a shower before going back to sleep?" Seto would brook no argument, his light needed rest.

Yugi shook his head. "Just a cloth will be fine." He stiffened, "How long will you be gone?" '_aloneleftbehindforgotten'_

Seto smoothed his hands over his light's tense shoulders. "Give me twenty minutes." He began untangling their limbs. "Would you like me to leave you with company?" The impression of tarnished silver scales ghosted through the link once more, this time coiling around something precious, tail twitching in mischief.

Yugi's curiosity peaked, "Company?"

Seto chuckled quietly, heard more through the link than the air. He slid off the bed and onto his feet, the lights of the room brightening automatically even as he called to his monsters.

Yugi watched in fascination as the shadows of the room seemed to shift and coil around the taller man before taking a shape he knew all too well.

The shadowy Blue-eyes White Dragon filled the room, ghostly and insubstantial, except for those burning blue eyes. Calculating and intelligent, the piercing gaze weighed and measured him as Seto lovingly stroked the smooth white head. The great dragon must have liked what it saw as it looked over to it's summoner and pushed against his chest with it's nose, seeming to forget about the leather clad duelist. It coiled protectively around the half naked CEO and blocked him from view.

There was a strange twisting feeling, as if the room itself was being pulled, before a tiny squeaking noise filled the air. The great white dragon crooned softly before fading away, revealing Seto with an armful of shifting white scales.

Yugi crept closer to the edge of the massive bed. "Is that?" The tiny bundle uncoiled and blinked open large, round, sky blue eyes. He could feel an 'awww' coming on. It was possibly the cutest creature he had ever seen.

Stroking the smooth head, the brunette walked closer, shifting to offer the tiny white dragon to his light. "It's okay, he doesn't bite."

Tentatively Yugi reached out, the dragon chick was surprisingly warm, the scales sliding under his fingers like well oiled metal. It made a happy squeak and butted against his fingers, demanding proper scratching. "It's not a hologram." Something in his mind _shifted_ as he took the dragon from his darker half, suddenly aware that if he sacrificed it a full grown Blue-eyes would be summoned in it's place.

He blinked as the weight of the dragon settled in his arms, tiny little claws catching on his shirt as it clung to him. Breath warm and moist, tiny scaly body thrumming with life. "It's alive." He looked down into round blue eyes with a sense of sadness. "Who was he?" Only children tended to become young monsters.

Seto watched the hatchling trying to wriggle free, shaking his head, a slight curl to his lips, affection easy to read for those who knew how. The question rolled off him without registering and his reply of, "No one", was dismissive.

Yugi felt his anger rise, arms curling protectively around the white dragon chick. "How can you say that? Not even you could be that cruel."

There was a quickly hidden thought of '_yes, yes I can be'_ before Seto turned calculating ice-blue eyes on his lighter half, emotions held behind walls of clinically distant ice. "He is not someone's _Ba_.**"

Confusion loosened Yugi's grip and the squirming chick managed to wriggle out of his grasp to explore the bed, like a curious kitten. "What?" He finally managed, looking at the very much alive and sentient shadow monster. Weren't all monsters once people?

Seto tilted his head ever so slightly to the side, assessing the situation like the genius he was, thoughts following every permutation and deviation faster than Yugi could keep up with. It was like watching an office tower light up, lightning quick and cascading in nature. Beautiful and mesmerizing to watch, leaving behind the distinct impression of casual effort, the simple flipping of a switch. Yugi suddenly wanted to see what solving a _real_ problem would look like.

"Of course, you only know what he could remember." Seto muttered almost to himself. Sharp eyes focused once more. "Only a percentage of duel monsters were once people, Yugi. This chick was never human." He swooped to prevent the clumsy dragon from falling off the bed. His voice turned wry, "However his mother once was, so I suggest you keep an eye on him."

Yugi accepted the complaining chick from his Yami. Suddenly he got the distinct impression that he didn't know much about duel monsters at all. "I have a lot to learn don't I?"

Seto smirked, "Yes, yes you do." He straightened, and headed for his tiny on-suite bathroom for a wet cloth, returning just in time to watch the hatchling pounce as Yugi pulled his soiled shirt off.

There was an undignified squawk as Yugi fell back, completely unprepared for the attack, tangled in his shirt and pinned under the surprisingly heavy dragon. "You little bastard." Yugi laughed as the dragon sat on his chest proud as a cat with a mouse. The sound was like a balm to the CEO's nerves, clear honest amusement without any shadows of the past. Summoning the hatchling was a major drain on his _Ka_ but it seemed that it had been worth it, if only for a moment of his light's happiness.

Tossing the cooling cloth at the pinned duelist's face earned him a loud 'hey!' and a half-hearted glare he didn't see as he opened his closet in search of something for the other man to sleep in.

A simple, dark blue, silk yukata landed on the bed next to Yugi's a moment later. The shadows were lurking behind vibrant eyes again, "Do you have to leave?" He sat up, cradling the hatchling in his lap.

Seto looked away, he couldn't put off his work any longer, the creeping feeling of an anxiety attack was pressing in with every second he delayed. "I just have to send a few messages. Shouldn't be more than twenty minutes."

Yugi's fingers clutched the hatchling closer without realizing it. He took a deep calming breath and then Seto felt Yugi _pulling_ at the link between them. It was different than the passive contact of before, the unusual impression of long fingered hands pulling thin shadows around unevenly sun-bleached leather and rusted metal, flashed across his thoughts.

Seto blinked and shook his head. What an unusual image, was that Yugi? Or a reflection of himself? His eyes focused on the other once more, something of his confusion must have transferred through the link as Yugi tilted his head in thought.

"What did you see?"

Seto focused on the impression once more. "Sun-bleached leather and rusted metal wrapped up in shadows."

The curl of Yugi's lips deepened into something mischievous. "Tarnished silver scales bathing in a sunbeam."

"I wonder why?" If the impressions were of each other than why not just see each other? Why the vague impression?

Yugi shrugged, "I don't know. Me and-" That soul deep pain tore through the link once more. Torn leather and smashed metal, broken bones and a bowed head, life blood slowly seeping away into the endless void, drowning in the blinding light. "It wasn't like this. This is different, more about impressions than words." He drifted off, curling around the suddenly subdued hatchling.

Seto wanted nothing more than to storm back across the room and curl around his light, but the burning need to go back to work clawed at his thoughts. It was like burning ice, painful and guilty and he nearly whimpered in pain and frustration.

Yugi smiled a small, sad smile just for him. "Go. I'll be fine until you return."

"Twenty minutes." He promised darkly, backing towards the door. He had never felt so torn before, never felt the drive to work as such a handicap. But now he felt it like an open wound in his mind. Angry and raw and painful.

"Go Seto. I'm not worth that kind of pain." Deep loss lurked behind averted eyes.

Seto swept back into the room his mental snarl snapping violet eyes back to him. He fisted both his hands violently in Yugi's crimson tipped hair before smashing their lips together, sucking the groan out of his light's lungs. "Never say that again." His voice was more growl than whisper.

Yugi's eyes watered from the pain, breath shortened to gasps.

His fingers loosened to cradle rather than harm. "I protect those that are mine." He let his thumb trace the line of Yugi's lips. "Even from themselves."

A whispered gasp, "Yami." Sun-bleached leather drowning in the light, burned and raw and dying. So afraid of accepting the darkness, afraid it'll be taken away, afraid of drowning in it's cool embrace.

"I won't let you drown." Yugi's forehead was fever hot against his own. He smirked, "Not until I de-throne you anyway."

A weak smile curved under his thumb. "Liar."

Seto sighed, some of the tension in his body draining away at the ghost of amusement. "Try to get some more rest." He pulled away, fingers lingering on smooth skin, "I'll be just down the hall."

Violet eyes flickered open, deep and dark, holding his gaze with an intensity that stole his breath. "I will be here."

Seto nodded once, understanding without words that Yugi had found some measure of balance, and was no longer in danger of collapsing in on himself.

He left the room without looking back, there was no need to.

* * *

><p>** The anime says that a monster is called a Ka, but this makes no sense in regards to actual Egyptian belief.<p>

The way I will be interpreting this going forward will be as follows (Based heavily on the wikipedia article on egyptian souls):

**_Ren_**** = Name**. Without your name you cannot enter the afterlife. Your true name is stripped from you when you become a monster. You don't forget it, it's just not yours anymore, this is the number one reason duel monsters cannot go to the afterlife.

**_Sheut_**** = Shadow**. Shadows are what forms the physical aspect of magic, summoned monsters and living people as well. It is formless and merely exists to be shaped, much like the realm that shares the name. It is by manipulating _Sheut_ that monsters are summoned, hence the reason it is called shadow magic.

**_Ka_**** = Vital Spark**. Without it you are dead and this is what powers summoning/magic. You use it up you die. Is naturally regenerated through food, drink and rest. Some people have more than others. Fusing _Sheut_ with _Ka_ allows one to cast spells.

**_Ba_**** = Essence**. This is your inner duel monster. Every living person has a _Ba_ and it forms a large part of who you are (one of the reasons no one ever seems to turn down a challenge, their inner duel monster won't allow it). Not every person possesses a unique _Ba_ and the form it ultimately takes can be influenced by outside factors, although it rarely changes in any significant way (born a dragon, always a dragon). When you die your _Ba_ moves on to the afterlife unless you become a monster.

Someone with great control and power can bring their _Ba_ to the surface and 'wear' it. This process aids in becoming a willing monster (and is usually the last step), but is also useful for avoiding the destructive nature of the Shadow Realm and allows one to use their monster powers without summoning their _Ba_ directly, greatly improving reaction time. With practice, this can be easier than actually summoning a monster.

**_Ib_**** = Heart**. Source of emotion, thought, will, intention and instinct. _Ib_ is divided into two halves, light and dark. Each half being responsible for different things. (Note: light does not equal good, and dark does not equal evil.) The balance within a person's _Ib_ generally does not change without great effort and people seek that balance in the relationships they have with other people instead. When a person chooses to become a duel monster their _Ib_ is joined with their _Ba_ and allows them to retain their personality as well as the ability to refuse orders or act without them.

When someone's _Ba_ is forcibly removed their _Ib _does not always survive. It takes a strong minded (or just a very stubborn) person to retain their _Ib_ under these conditions. There is a portion of _Ib_ that is 'copied' and reincarnated once it has spent enough time in the afterlife, becoming the template that the new _Ib_ is formed from. Millennium items seem to have great power over a person's _Ib_, and can complicate everything to a huge degree. (Whenever someone's 'soul' was removed it was probably their _Ib_ that was affected.)

**Spirit Partner** = _Ib_ possessing monsters that have 'attached' themselves to a particular person. The ability to see duel spirits is dependent on the strength of your _Ka._ People with strong _Ka_ are more likely to see/sense duel spirits and even those with weaker _Ka_ may see the spirit that has attached to them. It is unclear if a strong _Ka _draws a spirit or if a spirit helps boost _Ka, _or some combination of the two, and what, if anything, the monsters get out of the deal. Generally spirits are attracted to people who possess _Ba_ of the same or similar typing to themselves. Exceptions are likely to be abundant as spirits are individuals with freewill. Not all spirit partners were once human, some were born in the duel monster spirit worlds and as living creatures possess their own _Ib_.

Just because you can see spirit partners does not mean you can summon them. And just because you can summon them does not mean you can see them.

**Duel monsters cards** = Not all cards have a corresponding monster, and not all monsters have a corresponding card. The cards themselves are actually a paper-like plastic containing a woven microchip that the duel disks use to register and identify cards. The chip is woven into the card itself and tearing a card in half damages this chip beyond repair, rendering it unusable in a holographic duel. The cards by themselves are not magical, instead the ability of the cards to accept and release energy (how the cards are identified by the duel disks) aids the caster in casting shadow magic. It takes a skilled and powerful shadow mage to cast any spell/summon a monster without the card in hand and without the aid of KaibaCorp Solid Vision holograms. Many spirits are summoned unintentionally by people with power, this generally results in the spirit possessing the hologram and being restricted to the parameters the hologram functions under (can only harm other holograms), manifesting as unique behaviour only. Intentional summoning can bypass this restriction.


End file.
